Evoke Wealth LLC Reduces Stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI)

Evoke Wealth LLC lowered its holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. (NYSE:ARI) by 60.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,293 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 15,575 shares during the quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC’s holdings in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance were worth $92,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 327.1% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,045 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 2,332 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance by 57.7% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,002 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 2,562 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $93,000. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance during the 4th quarter worth approximately $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 54.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ARI has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 15th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price objective on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $8.75 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

In other Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance news, CEO Stuart Rothstein sold 52,074 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.99, for a total transaction of $520,219.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 385,928 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,855,420.72. The trade was a 11.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Carmencita N.M. Whonder sold 11,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.96, for a total value of $109,560.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 9,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $95,855.04. This trade represents a 53.34 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.68% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ARI opened at $9.96 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.48 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a quick ratio of 51.19, a current ratio of 51.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. has a 52 week low of $8.44 and a 52 week high of $11.64. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.29.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE:ARI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.07. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance had a positive return on equity of 9.37% and a negative net margin of 39.40%. Equities research analysts forecast that Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. will post 0.63 EPS for the current year.

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -105.26%.

About Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance

Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates, acquires, invests in, and manages commercial first mortgage loans, subordinate financings, and other commercial real estate-related debt investments in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe.